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The present volume titled Recent
Inflation in Bangladesh: Trends, Determinants and Impact on
Poverty captures the findings of two recent studies,
completed under the Independent Review of Bangladesh's
Development (IRBD) programme, by the Centre for Policy
Dialogue (CPD) on inflation in Bangladesh. As is known,
price hike of essential commodities has been a major concern
in Bangladesh, both for the policymakers and the public at
large. In 2007 (March-June), CPD carried out a study titled
Price of Essential Commodities: A Diagnostic Study of Recent
Trends to investigate the underlying factors contributing to
inflation in Bangladesh which was gradually gaining momentum
at the time. Based on value chain analysis of a number of
essential items, the CPD study identified the key reasons
(both domestic and international) which fuelled the
inflationary pressure and put forward suggestions for
intervention by the government to mitigate the situation.
Inflation in Bangladesh gained further momentum in 2008 with
consequent adverse implications on purchasing power and
poverty levels in Bangladesh. To examine these more recent
developments, CPD conducted another study, as a follow-up of
the aforesaid diagnostic study, which was titled Trends in
Prices and Inflation: Impact on Real Income and Poverty in
Bangladesh. This study traced more recent trends in
aggregate inflation levels and analysed movements in price
levels of a number of essential items of consumption. This
study also looked at Bangladesh's inflation from a regional
comparative perspective, made an attempt to estimate the
impact of inflation on poverty levels based on latest
household income and expenditure data and reviewed various
government interventions to address both causes and
consequences of inflation.
It is hoped that the book will be of interest to those who
have professional and policy interest in understanding the
nature and depth of recent inflation, and in designing
appropriate policy responses to mitigate the situation. It
is also hoped that the volume will also be of interest to
the general readership who are concerned with rising price
levels in Bangladesh and would like to have a more in-depth
understanding about the nature, causes and consequences of
inflation in the Bangladesh context. |
